Inexpensive quality gear for Moreton Bay

[sprat]

I'm looking at some gear for bottom bashing and maybe some spinning if the opportunity is there - but bottom bashing mainly.

How heavy should I go, as a lot of small stuff around in the Bay but I aslo don't want to lose any decent fish?

I was thinking a Penn 8500SS (I already have an overhead for myself and a snapper rod) and a Silstar Crystal tip or Ugly Stick around the 10 kg mark. Am I on the right track?

[Jeremy]

You won't catch much 'bottom bashing' in Moreton bay. Lightly weighted or unweighted baits are the go. Choice of reel and rod are OK, but even better would be a Shimano BTR4500.

Jeremy

[sprat]

Yes - someone else commented that this setup would be overkill and I should go Live Fibre 6kg and BTR 6500?

I'm unsure what fish to expect - size etc of the most common catches.

[NeilD]

You would have a lot more fun on a 3-5kg Berkley Dropshot and a 2000 or 3000 sized reel for the smaller stuff. There are a lot of options out there that are cheaper than a live fibre and baitrunner

Cheers

Neil

[webby]

Two rods that would be first choice would be a 3-6kg 7-7.6 ft with a suitable eeggbeater say a symetre 4000 or smaller loaded with 6-8kg mono or 14-20lb braid
then a stiffer rod in the 6-8kg range again eggbeater or baitrunner to suit tss4 or btr4500 on a 7.6-8ft rod loaded with 8-10kg mono or 20-30lb braid
these two will enable you to target most species in both reef and pelagics.
some of the angler allison range of rod s are cheaper then most graphite or live fibre and just a good.
regards

[Cheech]

Sprat, you did not mention where in the bay you usually/intend to fish.

Would be a completely different answer if you fish the bay islands, or if you fish the deeper water off morton or the shipping channels.

If the bay islands, then the guys that suggested the light gear are on the right track. I use slightly beefed up bream gear for these areas. 2500 reels with 10lb braid and 6 - 7 ft rods in the 3 - 6 lb range. Graphite is better, but any shimano or similar non graphite will be fine. Symetre are great reels. I use a 2500 symetre and a 2500 twin power as my main 2 shallow setups and I am not overly fussed which reel the fish hits. They both do a great job. Though it can be a bit of "do as I say, not as I do". ie, I do loose the occasional fish so may be better to go a bit heavier with a 3000 or 4000 reel. One of the benefits of this is that you can still use it in the bay shallows, and also have half a chance when fishing the deeper areas.

If the deep areas, then the heavy gear suggested. I think the 8500 is overkill. I have a 4500 that I use for floatlining with 25lb mono. Though this is a great reel to use for pretty well anything. I use to use it for bottom bashing, but now I take other reels if I intend fishing those areas. Boat looks like a porcupine. If you cannot get a fish in with this reel, you were probably going to loose the fight no matter what reel you were using (in the bay).

6500 is way overkill for any part of the bay.

If you can stretch to an extra reel, get a tss4 and put 20lb braid on it. I have one of these rigged up with a slug during summer, and then put it on a standard 8kg snapper rod during winter. Can even use it offshore if you want to (though is a bit underdone, it still does the job in up to about 60m).

But if you are after just 2 setups, exactly what Webby said.

Cheech